I like my name better!

If you plant carrots and don't thin them after they start to grow, you get a lot of funky looking little carrots mixed in with your normal carrots.

The kids found this one and dubbed it The Running Man.

I told them it should be named The Running Torso With the Crazy Long Toenail.

Strawberry Shortcake can't make sugar cookies. She just can't.

Sarah never wants to help me cook in the kitchen. And I can't really blame her.  Who wants to help their mom dump random ingredients into a crock pot at 2:00 pm? Or throw something from the freezer into the microwave to defrost at 5:30 pm?  Or frantically stir something on the stove top at 6:45 pm while tossing in some salt hoping that it will taste better?  Not me, that's for sure.

So I was a little shocked (and let's be honest here, a whole lot annoyed) when she opened up her Strawberry Shortcake cookbook on Wednesday night at 5:30 pm while I was in the throes of defrosting, sauteing, salting, etc. and declared that she was "going to make these cookies all by myself".

I did that big halfway-silent martyr sigh that I've perfected over the last ten years and asked her if we had all the ingredients hoping like crazy that we didn't.

But we did so she crammed beside me in our tiny kitchen and she got to work measuring and mixing.

She did a good job with minimal (okay, probably maximal) overseeing from me.  And then we got to the point in the recipe where it said to let the dough chill for two hours.

She was disappointed when I told her we were going to have to finish the cookies in the morning but there was no way we were finished them after dinner.  After dinner is when Mommy is done.  And rolling cookie dough is the last thing I wanted to be doing. I hate rolling cookie dough, remember?

The next morning we rolled the dough out and finished the recipe to the best of our ability.  I had to do most of the rolling and cutting the dough because dough is a huge pain!  I hate it, remember?

And here is young Betty Crocker right before she put the cookies into the oven.

After they came out of the over, she tasted one and declared that the sugar cookie dough tasted better than the actual cookie.  My mom had one and declared that they were wonderful.  (But that's what good Grandmothers do.  They eat bad cookies and tell their grand kids that they are brilliant.) I had one after dinner and declared that they were meh.  I put the rest of them away and they haven't been touched since.

I think perhaps it's time for me to get Sarah a real cookbook because Strawberry Shortcake just isn't getting the job done.


Edited to add:  We just ate dinner and Peter wanted his cookie for dessert.  It was his because he ate the one that had a chocolate chip "P" on top.  He declared his yummy and even ate a second one.  So, I guess maybe Strawberry can make a sugar cookie.  But I still think Sarah needs a new cookbook anyway.

I finally gave in.

I guess I'll spare you any more vacation photos but I'm still up to my eyeballs in my back-to-school to-do list so no fresh posts today.  BUT....I found this in my drafts folder.  I wrote it with plans to post it before we left for the Cape but I guess I was just so incredibly busy, I couldn't find the time to hit publish so here you go...a post that I wrote 3 weeks ago...


Our cucumber plants have loved all the rain we've been having this summer.  Our tomatoes on the other hand, have been missing the sun.  Apparently cucumbers need lots of water, while tomatoes need lots of light.  

Every time my husband comes in from the garden he says, "Sure wish you could can some of these cucumbers."  Or, "I hate to see all these cucumbers go to waste."

And he's been saying this for several years now.

And I've been pretending I can't hear him for several years now.

But after talking to another mom at the pool who just recently made pickles, I thought, "Oh, what the heck. I'll give it a shot."

On my next trip to Wal-mart, I purchased a big canning pot, some pickling mix, and jars.  Lots of jars. 

After I unloaded the rest of the groceries and fed everyone lunch, I pulled out the directions that came with the pot.  And the first thing I read was:  DO NOT USE THIS POT ON GLASS TOPPED STOVES!!

So I cursed a little under my breath, put that pot aside to be returned to Wal-Mart, and got the tallest pot I own out of the basement.

I pieced together instructions from the back of the pickling mix and from the directions that came with the unusable pot.

I rinsed and sliced the cucumbers.  I boiled the jars and the lids.  I simmered the pickling mix.

Then I packed cumber slices into hot jars, poured pickling mix on top, screwed on the hot lids, and placed the jars into my tall pot.  I set the timer for 10 minutes and held my breath. After 10 minutes I took the jars out, let them cool, then put them in the refrigerator.

The next day, we sampled the pickles and low and behold, they were good!  My kids approved of the taste, my husband thought they were good, my parents enjoyed them and my picky brother even gave them two thumbs up!

A couple  of days later, I went through the same process and ended up with 17 quarts of pickles.  That's a lot of pickles, y'all.

I'm proud of myself for trying something new and guess what?  I picked up some salsa mix on my last trip to the store.

Thanks to a week and a half of high temperatures and lots of sun we're about to have an abundance of ripe, red tomatoes and you can only eat so many tomato sandwiches!

Sox win! Sox win!

When we were in Massachusetts last week, we took the kids to their very first Red Sox game!  Well, technically, Peter went 10 years ago while in utero but since he doesn't remember, we aren't going to count that one.

The kids had a great time, especially Peter. Sarah was hoping for more ice cream and other food treats like we normally get at the local single A games but since the prices at the Red Sox are a wee bit more Major League than Minor League, we did not indulge her.

Here are a few pictures:

Outside of Fenway Park with Jillian, my neice.  Dan's two brothers and sister-in-law also joined us at the game.

After the game.  The Sox beat the Mariners!

The kids with Uncle Bob and Jillian.

My husband and his brother rarely give good smiles for the camera.  What's up with that????

It's been such a long time...

We are back! After a week and a half in Cape Cod, we arrived home on Saturday evening.

School starts in 2 1/2 weeks and my get ready for school to-do list is a mile long. Add in all the laundry that needs to be laundered and well, I've got better things to be doing that blogging!

So, I'll leave you with a few pictures from our trip:

You can't.

Last Wednesday morning, I was checking emails before dragging the kids out of bed for swim practice when I saw I had one in my inbox from the swim coach.  She was on vacation and the email was sent at 1:00 AM.

I quickly opened it, wondering what was wrong.  It was a brief note.  Only two sentences long.  It said there had been a tragic accident at one of the pools we swim against but the County Meet would go on as planned on Saturday.

I Googled it and found that an 11-year-old girl had been electrocuted at the pool in a freak accident.  As I read the article, my heart felt heavy and my eyes filled up with tears.

I told the kids about the accident as they were sitting down for breakfast and once again I began to cry.  My kids looked confused and wondered why I was crying about a girl I didn't even know.

How do you explain to your babies the fear you feel as a mother knowing that it could have just as easily been one of them? How do you explain the sadness you feel for another mother knowing that her one and only child was taken from her, right before her own eyes? How do you explain yet another round of  tears when you read that this poor mother was holding her daughter's limp, lifeless hand and praying over her the whole time the lifeguards were performing CPR?

You can't. 

So you dry your tears, pray for the little girl's family with your kids before they eat their cereal, hug your kids before swim practice, and go on with your life.

FOUR!

It is done.  The swim season is finally over. 

Our team has gone undefeated 4 years in a row and we won the county meet for the 4th time in a row.  I am so proud of my kids and the entire team. 

Swimming is hard work.  It's even harder work when your mom makes you go to practices twice a day.  But the swim season is short and if you want to get into shape you really need to build up your endurance.  And that takes lots of swimming!

Now our trips to the pool will be just for fun. The kids are ready to relax and enjoy the rest of their summer. 

Go Ducks!  Quack! Quack! Quack!

WIWS: The I had to dig deep for this one....

So I'm digging deep into the old closet to come up with something new and different to wear on Sundays.

I find it easier in the winter to come up with new outfits because you can do lots of layering.

It's in the 90's here and the humidity is high.  Ain't no layering happening on this body until the end of September.  At the earliest.

I found this black skirt in the back of my closet and paired it with this tee shirt.  I dug this old necklace out of the back of my closet as well.  As I was digging I was thinking how I could really benefit from some new necklaces.

But I'd be a fool if I drug the kids to Target and Kohl's to shop for accessories.  Ain't no accessory shopping happening until August 21st.  At the earliest.

Anyone have any idea what August 21st is? ;)


So without further whining and complaining, here is my dug-from-the-depths-of-my-closet outfit.

 Details:

Tee-Shirt: Target
Skirt: - Target (years ago)
Wedges: Kohl's
Necklace: Either Kohl's or Target (years ago)

Head on over to Fine Linen and Purple to see what everyone else wore today.

Hot and sweaty! Finally.

It's hot here. Finally!  And no, I'm not complaining.  I've been waiting all summer for summer to begin and now it thankfully has. 

If I'm going to be sitting at the pool, I want it to be sunny and hot.  Clouds and rain just don't cut it.

Yesterday was in the 90s and I was sweating like a pig the entire time.  When I got home from the pool, I weighed myself and I weighed a half pound less than I did when I went. 

And I hate a ton of grapes, a big bowl of corn salad AND a tomato sandwich while there and I still lost a half pound. Sauna anyone?

But don't worry, that half pound resumed it's rightful place on my thighs this morning so all is well with the world.

Seaking of pounds, I am thiiiiiiiis close to reclaiming my January weight - the weight I was prior to the beginning of the Stuff Face and Don't Exercise Extravaganza of 2013.

I figure I'll be back to my regular weight just in time for the Gorge Self and Lay On Couch Spectacular of 2014.

So that's all from here.

Just lots of swimming pool time and sweating.  Oh, and eating tomato sandwiches!

I love me a mater sammich!